Something Really Interesting in Ohio...

We've done shows all over the US. During those times we're pretty busy and don't always get to see what's going on around us. One state that we hadn't had much chance to explore is Ohio. Recently, we went to see our friends, Jim and Linda, who live there and they gave us a great tour.

Jim likes to be a bit mysterious, and so he didn't tell us where we were going as he was driving us around the area. We saw some beautiful countryside, some of Lake Erie, Amish country and had some excellent ice cream. It was a fine tour.

As model makers, he was right on when he took us to a place that I was previously unaware of and I imagine that most people unfamiliar with the area also don't know about.

It's called Warther's, or more formally Warther Cutlery and they make outstanding knives, primarily for the kitchen and dining room, but also for carving. Anyone that enjoys any kind of model making or wood carving should make a visit to this place in Dover, Ohio. I don't want to downplay the importance of their knives, but there is something there that I think everyone should see and that is the collection of steam locomotives and trains, intricately carved from Ebony, Walnut, Mother of Pearl and Ivory....so add any and all train buffs to the list of those who will love this place!
The founder of the cutlery company, Ernest “Mooney” Warther lived an almost fairy-tale story, finding a small pocket knife in a field, meeting a man who caused him to discover a method of carving a small pair of pliers from a single strip of wood, working in the steel mills and gaining the knowledge required to make outstanding knives as he grew into a world class carver. If I remember the story correctly, his carved models were displayed at a World's Fair, The White House and Grand Central Station.

I can't do justice in a description here, but his descendents, who still run the museum and cutlery company certainly do. It's very interesting and a lot of fun.

I must say, and this is from a professional model maker's perspective, that his carved trains are exquisite, with their thousands of beautiful parts. Any model maker or carver is going to learn things simply by seeing his works. Whether you currently care about models or not, you cannot help but be impressed. Of course, if you like things of quality, their knives alone are truly worth checking out. Consider that the White House Food Service uses them. For more information about the musuem and Warther Cutlery go to http://warthers.com

If you've been to my blog before, you may remember that I am a firm believer that model makers, as with any other artist, should sign their works. This is because, in my opinion, all too often beautiful models are found in the world and there is no way to know who the artist was. I am thrilled to know that this artist; Ernest “Mooney” Warther is recognized for the contributions that he made to the world of modeling, the world of carving and for his contributions to the history of the railroads.

That 25th Anniversary St. Michaels Festival and its Vendors/Artists/Artisans...

We have done a lot of shows over the years. We've done a lot of kinds of shows over the years; art shows, carving shows, boat shows, various festivals, etc. They all have things that we like about them. Among the types of shows that we do are Antique & Classic Boat Shows (see our previous post). They are special to us, because the boats classified as "antique" and as "classic" can make for some very interesting subject matter for us.

Of these kinds of shows, we've gone from our homebase in Maryland to Virginia, Florida, New York, Michigan, Minnesota, California and other places. We do have a special place in our hearts for the one held right here in St. Michaels, Maryland. This is its 25th year; its "Silver Anniversary". It is known as the biggest antique and classic boat show in the Mid-Atlantic states.

Perhaps it is because the show is at home that makes it so appealing to us. Being a serious event in our home area we get to see the interplay between the show and the surrounding community, especially St. Michaels. If you don't know St. Michaels, it's much more than a nice place to visit. It's also not a bad drive from Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Annapolis, even New York. It has the Chesapeake Bay with its natural beauty, wildlife, scenery, historic places, museums, biking trails, boating, golf, etc., etc., etc.. It also has nice places to stay, great shopping and an ever growing selection of restaurants for a wide variety of palates (and budgets).

Certainly this is part of our favoritism for this show, but there is more. Every antique & classic show has special things about it. You can see certain differences related to the show's location. For example the famous Lake Dora, Florida show tends to have boats that are mainly under 30', because, for the most part, the boats come on trailers. They have a very large number of boats and they are from all parts of the U.S. and Canada. These tend to be "lake" boats, every one of them a great boat. It's held at a waterfront park with palm trees and Ibis.

The St. Michaels show also has a very large group of lake boats, but also many cruisers and motoryachts, because of its location on the Chesapeake, a body of water that supports ocean going and coastal vessels. Thus, there are boats from 8' to over 80' LOA. The environment at each show just has a different feel. St. Michaels has the feel of a coastal seaport.

...and the boats have a different feel...

It's held at The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum whose physical layout lends itself to this type of show with lots of grass for land displays and lots of docking space for the boats on display.

One of the things that I like best about the St. Michaels show is also its collection of vendors and artists. Antique & classic boats shows, if they have vendors, tend to draw high quality people with goods and services particularly suited to boaters and in some cases, specifically to those that love antique & classic boats. For example Jim Bassett is an engine expert and has original parts for older boats that are very difficult to find anymore. Since the boats are competing for best restoration to original condition, his parts, from step pads, to entire engines, could be the key to a great restoration. He also has things for boats of all eras and types and might have what you need to make your 1990's era boat work better.

We also have boat builders and restorers that have specific knowledge and abilities relating to older boats, especially wooden boats and their special requirements, including experience in the fine differences between a Century vs. a Garwood vs. a Trumpy Yacht. Among those experts are George Hazzard, Chad Brenner, Mast & Mallet, Will Ruhland, Jerry LeCompte, Dave Hannam and others. We have Chrome plating specialist Jim Wade and Rope specialist Jim Torbert.

We also have people that specialize in acquring original information, such as boat plans, catalogues and other documentation that help a boat restorer, amateur or professional to know the proper standards for the restoration to be done.

Then there are the Outboard specialists...

Basically, almost anything that you need for an older boat is available at this show. Most of these people also are specialists when it comes to modern boats, as well, and you will find that if you are a boater, most anything that you need is here at this show.

Another thing that I love about this show, and it's great for anyone that wants to come to the show, but has fear that they are "dragging" someone else around, is "The Arts at Navy Point".

The Arts at Navy Point is basically something that occurred naturally in the show's development about 17 years ago, when the first vendors came. Among them were a good number of artists. Painter Grover Cantwell, who you'll find in "the small boat building" was among them. We know because we were there, too and haven't missed a show since.

There is a natural connection between the beauty of these boats and the arts. Bringing one of these boats back to its original condition really is an art. Since the time of the first vendors, artists have been in attendance in increasing numbers and we have literally had some of the best in the business over the years. This year we have a long list and it is not possible to include them all, but some of the names include Mary Lou Troutman, John Ritter, Russ Orme, Jim Kinnett, Rebecca Lowe, and many more...

There are also Artisans, those who are artists, but may build things, or practice artistry in whatever they do, including marlinespike artist Vince Brennan, or Wildlife Carver Bill Hickson or the many model makers, authors, furniture makers, and, again, too much to describe here.

I recommend that you go to http://intothings.com/boatshow/vendors.html to see a list of who is coming to this year's show. It's very impressive!

There's not much more to say except that this is one great way to spend Father's Day. There is so much to see and do at the show, at The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum where it's held and in St. Michaels that you won't be saying to yourself "Been there, done that"; You'll be saying "I can't wait until next year!"

Just What Are Antique & Classic Boats???

I am never sure, that when we put out the word about our Antique & Classic Boat Festival each year, that everyone knows what we mean and what makes these boats so special...

What is an antique or classic boat? Let me start by saying that when you see an "Antique & Classic" boat show, it's probably being put on by one of the fifty some odd chapters of The Antique & Classic Boat Society (ACBS), which is an international group dedicated to the preservation and restoration of classic and antique boats.

ACBS rules define an antique boat as one built between 1919 and 1942; a classic boat is one built between 1943 and 1975. Those built before 1918 fall into the class of historic.Most ACBS boat shows and festivals are judged. The goal is for the boats to be maintained in, or restored to, original form. 

Among these boats are Chris~Crafts, Garwoods, Centurys, Higgins, Owens, Matthews, Lyman, Thompson, Whirlwind, Huckins, Trumpy, Ditchburn, Shepherd and many, many other names. Many of them have varnished mahogany planked decks with white seams and chrome parts.

It's difficult to describe how exciting these gatherings can be. Each boat comes from an individual or individuals who come together in a single place. There is no museum or other place that one can visit and see such a great collection of historic items. None could afford it. The only opportunity to see them is at these shows. Their owners put a lot of care into their boats and it shows.

As model makers it's our job to notice the differences between boats. Looking at antique and classic boats collectively we get an opportunity to see how design has evolved both in terms of style and function. Luckily, we've even gotten to know a few of the significant boat designers along the way. Their explanations of the hows and whys of design choices has taught us a great deal. Modern boats are the product of these design choices.

When you are at an antique & classic boat show notice the year that a boat was built on its information card. Many of the boats that you'll see were "state of the art" at the time that they were built. Picture what the world must have looked like when that boat was "state of the art". There is a good chance that you will see a boat from the same era as the Wright Flyer. Think of what a state of the art airplane is like now. What about cars? It's easy to tell that there are differences between a boat from the 1920s and the 1960s. What about the 1920s to the 1930s? It helps to look at the boat's appearance, how the hull is shaped, the layout of human spaces, the engine, the comfort features, the finishes, available materials, etc.

A useful piece of information to know about is the difference between a "utility" and a "runabout". If you look at the "Retrospect", a 1958 Century Coronado and clearly an elegant boat, you'll see it described as a utility. When you look at the Garwood "Granny", also an elegant boat, it will be listed as a runabout. A runabout has dedicated cockpits (seating areas)separated by decking, meaning that to go from one to another requires crossing a deck. A utility has a single cockpit area allowing movement throughout the boat without leaving the cockpit.

Many elements changed, pretty much by decade, in the design of boats. Sometimes these elements paralleled those seen in cars, airplanes, toasters and vacuum cleaners.

Using Chris~Craft's long line of boats as examples of changes that many brands of boats went through;, you will see that a Chris~Craft runabout from the late 1920s has what is known as a "raised deck" over the motor box area. In the 1930s a similar Chris~Craft have a "flush deck". The flush deck here happens to be a Hacker.

In the 1940's, with WWII, materials were scarcer and painted sides sometimes replaced mahogany sides and the 1947 Chris~Craft 22' Sportsman utility was one of the most recognized boats of that time.

In the 50's things got really crazy with the advent of vinyls and fiberglass. If you are familiar with the '57 Chevy, you'll see that many late '50s boats had wings. Other 1950's Chris~Craft features were the bull nose and blonde stain as seen in Capris and Rivieras. The use of fiberglass was originally not for functional purposes, but for visual appearance. Note the Cobra's gold fin.

*Speaking of the use of fiberglass in the late 50s, The Silver Anniversary of The Antique & Classic Boat Festival in St. Michaels, Maryland, being held June 15th - 17th, is expected to have the largest gathering of the highly unusual Chris~Craft "Silver Arrows" ever. This was a boat that used fiberglass in a way never seen prior to 1958(or again).Click on the photo for more information...

One of Chris~Craft's means of staying current was to "borrow" good ideas from other companies. Although, theirs is probably the the most quickly recognized name in classic boats, many of their ideas came from watching others. Their Sea Skiff line were similar to Lyman Boats, which featured lapstrake construction with "canoe strip" reinforcement.

In the late '50s, there began an intense competition between Chris~Craft and Century boats, whose Coronados, Resorters and Arabians had lots of Chrome, Vinyl, Convertible Roof options and lots of power. Century boats were striking to look at and Chris~Craft answered with the Super Sport and other similar models in the early '60s.

Of course, Chris~Craft was only one boat builder among hundreds that made what are now antique and classic boats, each of whom had an interesting story and role to play in their development. I do not want to leave the impression that all antique and classic boats are Chris~Crafts. I use them here as examples of one of the companies that made such boats. Perhaps you are familiar with Berglund?

I am just scratching the surface of what you'll see at these shows. I haven't said a thing about Cruisers or Motoryachts... The Happie is what as known as a "raised-deck cruiser". It has 7' of headroom down below, a commuter cockpit and a soapstone fireplace.

When you see 4 or 5 Trumpy Motor Yachts, which might be 80' or longer in one location, even from a distance they very impressive. Speak with the Captain and you might get invited aboard! Motoryacht builders had similar design evolutions, many of the early ones being built on sailboat hulls.

Raceboats such as Gold-Cup Racers, Jersey Skiffs, Unlimited Hydros, and others are often present at these shows and when you are talking state of the art... Well. The first boat to achieve 100mph on water, the Miss America IX was at the St. Michaels Show last year. Perhaps again, this year??

Of course, there are "The Outboard Guys". Outboards have been one of the most important developments ever seen in the world of boats. What we use now came from machines that looked like old kitchen mixers. The machinery and styling and sometimes the greatest of innovative thinking can be seen in old outboards. Those that love and take care of them and bring the dead ones back to life are very special people. Their ability to find precious information and their ability to bring something out of their closet that you could never imagine existed at one time is astounding.

I recommend that if you haven't been to a real Antique & Classic Boat Show, that you take a look. They are truly amazing and you need to pay attention to really get the most out of them, but when you do, you will find out a lot of things about the history of style and design and, ultimately, because everything else in our lives followed similar design paths, why we have what we have today and, in some ways, who we are.

The next great nationally recognized show is The 25th Anniversary of The Antique & Classic Boat Festival/ The Arts at Navy Point held in St. Michaels, Maryland on June 15th - 17th, 2012 at The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Maryland. St. Michaels is a beautiful and historic town on the Miles River, which is a tributary of The Chesapeake Bay. It has fine restaurants, shops and lodging and the weather is usually in the mid-70's during the show. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum helps to keep the traditions and history of the Chesapeake Bay alive and recently added a very special tugboat exhibit.

For more information about this show go to http://chesapeakebayacbs.org

For information about other great antique & classic boat shows or to learn more about antique and classic boats go to http://acbs.org

For information about Century boats and The Century Boat Club go to http://www.centuryboatclub.com/

To see some of our antique & classic boat models go to http://intothings.com/antqclsc.html

To know what's going on in the world of classic boating try http://woodyboater.com/

Stay tuned for more about "The Arts at Navy Point" for 2012.

The 8th Annual CBMM Maritime Model Boat Expo May 19 & 20, 2012

We do several shows every year. Although we are in the "business" of making model boats, not all of our shows are expected to be major selling events for us. Why would any business person say this? The making and selling of custom scratch-built model boats is definitely a niche market and for us every time we display them in public is an element of the marketing process. We like to say "sowing seeds". The fact of the matter is that there are very few shows with clusters of people of whom we can expect to commission a serious model boat then and there. For most people, commissioning a model is something that requires consideration.This is as it should be.  For this reason we do shows over a wide geographical area and our website is very important in helping us to sow those seeds to people the world over.

Some shows have other, different, benefits for us. As you might imagine, working on hundreds of very small pieces constantly can sometimes get draining. There are some shows that we go to in order to become energized. Not everyone realizes, when they see a model, that a large part of making it happen is art. Art is a large part of our lives and even though we are not painters, sculptors, or jewelers, per se, the things that people do in those other arts are the elements of what we do. In addition, just being with people who do what they do, whose philosophies are to do the best that they can, in whatever their discipline, is good for the soul.

I will tell you honestly that for years we had stopped doing what were referred to as "model shows". People thought that we were crazy for this. "You'll sell tons of models." The fact is that model shows are not a great place to sell models, if that is the primary goal.

With age I find that doing shows in order to get energized and to spend time with people with like interests and skills is not a bad business decision, when you compare it to continuing education credits required in other disciplines, or various conventions or meetings - It makes you better at what you do.

We had stopped going to model shows, because, at the time, we felt that they were not a place to make sales. Perhaps, for the reasons stated above, we should have looked at other benefits to be had.

This weekend we will be at The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum for their Annual Maritime Model Expo in St. Michaels, Maryland. We went last year and realized what we were missing when we got there and saw some of our old friends such as Jean Preckel, Jim Wortman, members of the Museum's Model Guild, members of The Washington Ship Modeling Society (I know that I don't have the name exactly right), as well as meeting several new ones. There was a model of a skipjack that the builder had been working on for 27 years! The guys from Washington are working with ever new techniques and are delving farther into the reaches of maritime history to find more interesting subjects to model. Other model makers had beautiful and unique display ideas. There is also a "lake" set up for R/C and pond yachts and these guys are having fun!.

So, just as some shows energize us in the realms of the arts, this is a show that energizes us, because it has so many people with the common interest of making model boats. Of course you have the various factions R/C vs Static, scratch-built vs kits. It doesn't matter. They are in for the love of it. There are experts in all types of model boat making and you'll find novices and the master's masters. I recommend that you come to this show. We'll certainly be there...

More infomation here: http://cbmm.org/modelexpo/index.htm

IWC NYC - The Half-Hull on The Wall

Any photos here are copyright their respective owners. Let me know and I will remove anything objectionable.

I apologize for obsessing. We have models all over the world and in some very special places, for example, The St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco or the one in Dubai. There is something about this setting and the quality of the surroundings that make this a particularly special place to have a model. It is in New York City in the place that people go to buy the finest things in the world. Indeed, IWC Schaffhausen is known for making some of the very finest watches in the world.

This is clearly an honor for us and it's also been fun to see the parade of Champion Boxers, Fashion Models and Movie Stars who have had their photos taken in front of our "little boat" as they attended the Opening Gala of the brand new IWC Boutique at 535 Madison Avenue which was dedicated to the Great Muhammed Ali.

The whole thing started when we were approached with a rendering of a room and asked if we could make the model in the image - with a few modifications. The model in the image is a full-hull model and we would be making a half-hull and the backing panel that fits within the frame, but not the frame. We were asked to work up a proposal, not aware of who the customer was and received quick approval. As the project progressed, we learned more and more about what we were really getting into.

We then had to design the model according to the specifications of a design team in Switzerland. Our plans and samples of materials to be used were all submitted to New York, from where they were sent on to Switzerland for approval. The model needed to be relatively lightweight, but would clearly be much larger than most model boats of the class. It was to be of a particular raceboat that is a prominent contender in the Volvo Ocean Race, which is a grueling race around the world involving 70' sailboats that are as "state of the art" as anything currently made by human beings.

Unusual for us was that both the boat and the backing board had to be pure white. In fact, a color that is classified under the European RAL system of colors: RAL 9016 - Traffic White. It was unclear whether or not this kind of paint would be available to us, but we found an expert in European colors at the Annapolis Paint Store in Easton, Md. who was able to create both water-based and lacquer paints for the job.

We were not able to procure drawings of the boat, so we used photogrammetry to develop the lines. You will find that they are quite accurate. The hull body was to be a little over 48" LOA (53" with bowsprit and radar arch). We decided to cut the hull from machinable foam, a material that is epoxy based with additional constituents to give it a density between pine and maple wood. It is preferable to machining wood because it is infinitely stable and there is no grain, which tends to cause print-through and does not take details as well. We have a small CNC machine that can cut a piece of material to a maximum length of 12". In order to cut the hull, we thought that we would have to farm the job out to someone with a much larger machine than ours.

We found that, for too many good reasons to elaborate on here, most CNC cutting companies did not want our job. Thus, we had to cut it ourselves with our small machine. This is actually good, because it allowed us to adhere to our rule of making every single part of the model ourselves.

We accomplished this by splitting the hull form into 3 two inch thick parts, divided along the buttock lines. The longest; the one closest to the centerline, required 5 operations in which an area was cut and then, using special alignment pins, the adjoining area was cut. In all, the hull body alone took 14 separate operations involving 64 hours of cutting. In order to keep the machine from binding an elaborate counterweight system was used. The hull could have been ruined at any stage for a variety of reasons, but we were able to keep problems under control. In order to reduce weight further, large holes were drilled into the hidden parts of the hull in much the same way as is done in the construction of aircraft parts. The 3 long parts were laminated with very slow epoxy and filled with a phenolic balloon/epoxy compound. When the surface was ready, it was finished with spray lacquer.

The mast and boom are steel. The majority of other parts are made from brass. The sails from rip-stop. Metal to metal connections were all made using hard silver solder.


From the deck to the top of the antenna at the masthead is 6'11", thus if you could stand on the deck, except for a very few people in the world, that point would be well over your head. The keel extends down from the hull by about 10 1/2". From the bottom of the hull to the top of the antenna is 8'2".

The backing board presented a different set of problems to overcome. In the interest of keeping weight down, it was decided to make the backing board from two 1/2" thick layers of Gatorfoam, a material that consists of a light foam core sandwiched between hard facings. The resulting one inch thick backing board might seem very sturdy until you understand that the panel is 54.73" wide by 121.65" tall or a little over 10'1" tall. Rigidity was enhanced by using cherry and baltic birch plywood in strategic locations so that they not only strengthen the backing board, but they strengthen the model structure and provide a hanging mechanism as well. Thus, the face of the backing board is only 1" proud of the wall.
Getting such a large piece from the Chesapeake Bay to 535 Madison Ave. looked like a logistical nightmare, but with over a week put into the creation of a very special container and good freight handlers, it made the trip in great shape.

We drove to New York with the model's components and assembled it on-site, at times with the assitance of others working on their part of the Boutique. What the site looked like when we got there was very different from what is being shown all over the Internet in recent days, but we knew the kind of place that was being built. We left the store as a protective cover was being placed over our model.

It's hard to explain the feelings when one leaves a model like that. We don't know exactly when we will get to see it in its full glory, but we're looking forward to our next trip to New York.

Take a trip to http://IWC.com and check out the forums forums for more...